Ornamental Moldings for giving a classic look to your home

Although there are certain modern interior designs being applied in the houses, the classic designs still hold their place to add royalty to the house. Using different kinds of moldings is a great way to enhance the beauty of the home and highlight certain features. It adds a distinguished look to the walls, ceilings and floors. The best thing about it is that it gives a proper finishing to the corners.

There are many types of decorative moldings available in the market made from different materials and styles. Some of the materials used are wood, plaster and polyurethane. Wooden moldings are made from pine or oak wood. The ones made from polyurethane are light weight, long lasting and more durable as compared to wood. The polymer moldings are also more economical as compared to the wooden ones.

A few main commonly used moldings are:

• Base molding: This is the molding placed along the floor. A baseboard at the floor works to protect the molding.

• Cornice molding: It is the molding which is placed close to the top of the wall. Cornice is a more ornamental version of a normal crown molding. The rooms where more decoration is required such as reception rooms are designed with this type of molding.

• Crown molding: It is also used along the wall top. They are placed at an angle to add to the surfaces due to which they are also called bed- moldings. This type of molding is also used with cabinets and fire places in addition to walls. It is simpler so it is preferred to be used in living rooms and kitchens.

• Wall molding: This type of molding is used for chair rails, picture rails and friezes. A picture rail has a rounded edge at the top extending beyond the wall. It is placed for hanging pictures on the walls. A frieze is more flat as compared to picture rails. Using these styles divides the wall into different areas enhancing the options for its decoration.

• Panel molding: This type of molding is done on walls, doors and ceilings. It breaks the large areas into panels which can be decorated by using creative ways.

Apart from the decorative purpose of the moldings, they are also a good solution for hiding out the improperly finished edges of the walls. Choosing one of the available styles of moldings for your home is solely your own choice. However the size and scale of the molding and the room are required to be in a proportion. You can also get the moldings painted according to the colour of walls and accessories which you are going to use in the room. Moldings can also be curved to give a round look or to be used in the rounded areas of the home. When using crown and cornice moldings, many combinations of both can be tried out.

You can install decorative moldings on the intersection of walls and ceilings, for framing windows, along the frame of a door, along the floor, around the fire place and even on the wall to highlight a part of it.